


The Changeling

by christian_hayes (orphan_account)



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dadza, Gen, fae au????, listen bub i don't know what's happening either, sbi, sleepy bois inc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27712886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/christian_hayes
Summary: The day he first held Wilbur in his arms was one Phil would consider the happiest one of his life for exactly three weeks and two days. The day he found another baby in his child’s crib, with Wilbur nowhere to be seen would be considered the worst for many years to come, though looking back on it, it was the day his life changed for the better. Again.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Comments: 9
Kudos: 356





	The Changeling

The day he first held Wilbur in his arms was one Phil would consider the happiest one of his life for exactly three weeks and two days. The day he found another baby in his child’s crib, with Wilbur nowhere to be seen would be considered the worst for many years to come, though looking back on it, it was the day his life changed for the better. Again.

All things considered, no matter how cute he was, this baby was a pretty poor attempt at a changeling. For starters, the little tufts of hair on his head were a soft pink, he already had his lower canines despite only being three weeks old, and on top of that, the plants in Phil’s windowsill changed alongside the baby’s moods. Though this last characteristic was quite convenient at times, it wasn’t enough to distract Phil from the fact that  _ this was not his baby _ . 

But two days passed and he grew attached. Two days passed and he walked into the woods to go looking for trouble. To look for his son. He’d brought the Fae child, simply because he couldn’t bear to leave him alone. And he walked out of the forest with a child in each arm, and every trace of his existence wiped from the minds of everyone who knew him. And the yard was overtaken by the forest and the townspeople talked about the hermit in the woods, and warned their children to stay away. And Phil would do anything for his sons, even die.

His boys grew up not knowing any better than the three of them and their house in the forest. The woods provided for them, and Phil provided for it in return. He raised its child.

It wasn’t until Wilbur, eight years old already, asked, that the boys knew. He’d stepped into the living room late one night when the boys should definitely have been sleeping, with a teary-eyed Techno in tow. Phil had seen the flowers wilt before his sons had even entered the room and immediately asked what was wrong. 

“Dad,” Wilbur started, “why does Techno look so different?” 

Phil cringed at the face Techno was making. Though Wilbur meant no harm, it was clearly something Techno didn’t like to hear his brother talk about. Phil sighed, asking them to sit down on the couch with him. And Wilbur plopped himself into his dad’s lap while Techno leaned against Phil. 

“Now, I need you boys to understand that we don’t make fun of people for how they look, yeah?” Phil said, Wilbur and Techno both nodding along, “Or for anything else they can’t control.” Phil continued. And he told them everything. About how Will had gone missing, how Techno had showed up, how he’d walked into the woods to save both of his sons.

“Because, Techno, no matter where you’re from, you’re my son.”

And throughout the years, it became more and more clear that Techno was not of this world, and that Wilbur had spent time outside this realm. Because Techno didn’t get lost in the woods even once, and things usually went his way, no matter how low the probability. And Wilbur touched a guitar once, one he’d found in a corner of the attic, and was somehow playing like he’d been doing it for years in only two weeks. And by the time they were ten, their Fae nature was simply a part of everyday life. Even when they got another brother.

The boy had showed up in their backyard one day, as confused as they were. The forest had a habit of dropping off injured animals in their garden, but this was the first time it had delivered them a child. Techno found him. It had been the middle of the night, and something was telling him to get up and go to the lily pond behind the house. So, he did. Because Techno was not dumb enough to ignore his Fae instincts. He waited for two hours exactly, though he didn’t know what he was waiting for, until a ripple on the water caught his attention. A frog jumped out and hopped past the boy towards a kid, no older than five, shivering in the October chill. Techno waved at him, not doing much until he saw the child’s lips had turned blue and his hair was wet. If he were human, the night would’ve claimed his soul by now. So, Techno wrapped his cape around the boy and took him inside, ignited the fireplace and went to get his father and brother.

The boy stayed. Phil gave him the spare bedroom and, when he was sure the kid was settled in, spent an entire after noon walking through the forest looking for answers. The woods whispered to him sometimes, told him important things about the wildlife and, in this case, strange children in the woods. “ _ he got lost. so very lost. everyone he knows is gone now. be careful, it’s been a while since they took him.” _ the trees whispered. And Phil was content with that answer, and he raised the boy like his own son.

When the twins were twelve, and Tommy seven, Will got lost in the woods again. He’d gone to pick apples on a late summer day while Techno tended to the yard and Tommy was inside with a big book and his dad to explain the long words. When Will had been gone for ten minutes longer than promised, Techno began to get uneasy, causing the flowers to get particularly  rowdy. Tommy noticed it before Phil did, pointing to the bouquet on the table, prompting Phil to go outside to check on his eldest boys. When he, too, noticed Wilbur wasn’t back yet, he went inside to get his and Techno’s cloak, telling Tommy to grab his as well. Bundled up, the three entered the forest, Techno in the lead as his instincts told him where to go. 

When they found Will, he was laying on the ground in a fairy circle of mushrooms. Phil immediately held back Tommy from rushing to his brother’s side. He didn’t want the kid to go missing again. Techno instead stepped into the circle, kneeling down next to Wilbur. He shook him a little until Wilbur’s eyes slowly began to open. He rolled onto his back, stretching his limbs before he realized who woke him up. 

“What’s wrong?” Wilbur asked with a sleepy voice.

“Wilbur, you were gone for five hours.” Techno replied incredulously. Wilbur shot up, looking at his dad and younger brother with a sheepish smile. 

“Sorry, I just got really tired.” He said, looking guilty. Phil assured him it was okay and told his elder sons to please step out of the fairy circle. Wilbur nearly jumped out of it while Techno calmly walked out. 

The four started walking home, Techno guiding them in the right direction, until a sound in the underbrush caught Techno’s attention. His secondary set of ears turned to pick it up better. They were definitely being followed. Lucky for him, Tommy got tired right at that moment and Techno managed to tell his dad about what he’d heard.

When they started walking again, the sound left them.

The next morning, Wilbur was the first up. He felt the trees calling him, but not in a malevolent way. More like they were trying to help him. He answered the call, waiting at the tree line until movement in the bushes caught his eye. He knelt down and moved branches out of the way until his eyes met those of a familiar small fox.

“Fungi!” he exclaimed, recognizing the creature from when he’d met it in the woods the day before. His exclamation caused the fox to jump into his arms, climbing to his shoulder when Wilbur rose, and rest there as the boy took the fox inside. 

When Tommy was ten, and the twins were fifteen, Phil was walking along the road that ran through the forest a few miles from their home. The year before, he’d found a field of wild strawberry bushes out this way, and they were probably ripe by now. He’d been walking along the asphalt when his eyes fell on a large cardboard box by the side of the road. It had been put on its side and Phil could barely see the tips of worn-out sneakers sticking out of it. This forest did strange things to people sometimes, causing them to abandon pets or loved possessions in it, but surely nobody would leave their kid here, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong, Phil realized when he heard the sobbing coming from the box. 

“Knock  knock .” He said before approaching the box too much. The kid sniffled.

“Hello?” He called, causing Phil to get closer and kneel down in front of the box.

“Hey kiddo, are you okay?” Phil asked, being careful not to crowd the kid. 

“N-no,” he sniffled, “my parents left...” the boy fell quiet after he said that.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, why don’t you come with me. I can make you some tea and we can talk about it.” Phil proposed, but the boy shook his head, mumbling about how he wasn’t supposed to go with strangers. Phil scratched his head before making a decision.

“How’s about I tell my son, he’s about your age, to bring you some food instead, is that okay?” Phil asked. The boy nodded and after Phil had given him his jacket and warned him that it might take a while since it was an hour-long walk, Phil left to go get Tommy. 

Tommy left, with warm food and hot tea, as carefully wrapped as they could, and a blanket and warm cloak for the boy, not even an hour later, Phil having ran most of the way home. Wilbur sent Fungi with him. Techno offered Tommy a lantern to light the way and a dagger to keep safe, and Phil hugged his youngest son tight and told him to get home safe as he wrapped a cloak around him.

Tommy could sense the boy from a hundred yards or so away, his time in the Fae world, though he couldn’t remember it, being good for something after all. He assumed the boy had seen his lantern since he didn’t jump when Tommy knocked on his box.

“Hey, my dad sent me to bring you some food. I brought enough for two,  wanna eat together?” Tommy asked as he spread out the blanket and sat down in front of the box. “Here, this cloak is for you. Do you want tea?” The boy nodded as he accepted the cloak and immediately wrapped it around himself. 

Tommy poured them tea while he kept talking. “My name’s Tommy, and my dad’s name is Phil. What’s your name?” He asked the boy as he handed him his mug and started to unwrap their food.

“ Tubbo .” The other boy replied.

Tubbo stayed.

**Author's Note:**

> that's it. no more. suffer.


End file.
